Stable blue food supply can enhance the resilience of cropland ecosystem
against the green food fluctuations shocks
Abstract
Global changes in diets and frequent natural disasters have induced food
production fluctuations, posing challenges to food security. The
importance of blue food is attracting unprecedented attention, but
research on its role in connection with terrestrial food and its
mechanism is currently not available, especially there are significant
challenges in how to carry out systematic food research on land and sea
integration. Human demand for marine blue food affects cropland
ecosystem through the food system and drives changes in its function and
causes the loss of food security, while the interactions between
land-sea food system and the response of cropland ecosystem resilience
to terrestrial and marine food production have not been systematically
studied. This study assesses the resilience of cropland ecosystem in
coastal China based on early warning signal indicators calculated from
net primary productivity (NPP), and analyzes the situation of shocks to
production in the land-sea food sector to reveal the impact of
green-blue food production on the resilience of cropland ecosystem. The
results demonstrate that the marine food fluctuation had a significant
impact on the resilience of cropland ecosystem in coastal China. Fujian
and Guangdong provinces of China observed a significant decrease in
cropland ecosystem resilience, with τ values of 0.27 and 0.07,
respectively; the coefficient of variation of seafood production per
capita as an essential influence on NPP resilience, with a contribution
of 19.53%. The decoupling of blue food from green food in regions of
increased cropland NPP resilience contributes to the land-sea food
sector mutual complement through stable yields, and buffers the effects
of food shocks on the resilience of cropland ecosystem. This study
provides new perspectives on coordinating the balance between
sustainable development of cropland ecosystem and human well-being.